Puppy Playtime (Jersey)

[Keara Aithne]

Gizmo was turning his head to grab his lead in his mouth; something he did whenever his lead was in reach as he was excited by the prospect of going for a walk. Leeloo, being the calmer of the two, accepted her lead more gracefully, even if she did shuffle closer to Gizmo as Keara tried to clip the lead to her collar. Leeloo was an odd little thing and while she didn't dislike her owners, she definitely preferred Gizmo's company to theirs. Keara didn't take it personally, Gizmo was enough of an attention whore to keep both Keara and Enver occupied when the pup played up. Sometimes Keara wondered if he even knew he was a puppy, as he seemed more than a little at home in their bed whenever he had the chance to be on/in it.

"Okay. Okay. Behave."

The little nightmare tugged on his lead, trying to pull Keara in the direction of the elevator.

"Gizmo. Pull mummy you cannot. Even daddy little success in that has unless mummy wishes it so. Or unless daddy cheats and mummy over his shoulder does throw. And you that cannot do."

Keara laughed softly as she closed the door of their cell and waited for the elevator to reach their floor. Gizmo was so excited, he'd already tangled himself in the lead and was whimpering to be released. When the doors opened, Keara had to scoop the puppy up to free his legs before he could be placed back on the floor.

"More like Leeloo you should be," she told him. "Knows she does how to behave. Learned that from you she did not."

The puppies were like chalk and cheese in some aspects. Leeloo was much calmer and didn't seem to have the affinity for chewing things that Gizmo did. They did however clearly have a strong bond with one another as they were rarely more than a few feet apart. Leeloo was still a little on the skittish side, especially when they went outside, but that was when Gizmo was in his element; standing at his side, she seemed to almost share in his confidence.

As they reached the ground floor, Keara tried to send Enver a message telling him that she was taking the puppies for a walk and that she'd be home soon. When she failed to find the ability to do as much, she stopped by the downstairs computer and sent him an email. They too were rarely parted, only unlike the puppies, their time apart didn't rely on distance so much as minutes or hours. They spent every available minute together, unless there was a raid to keep Keara away from him and distracted and even then they didn't stay out of each other’s minds.

Walking out into the night air, Keara stopped ever so briefly and cast her eyes skywards. Cloudy as it was, she knew the moon would be nowhere to be seen. It was going to be one of those nights when her powers decided that they were on vacation. She was used to lunar cycle now, but had it not been for Enver's own curs that struck when the moon was full, she might never have realised that her own was due to its visible absence from the sky. With a soft sigh, she looked down at the puppies, reminded Gizmo to behave and made her way around the back of the Asylum to the park. The tiny creatures were lucky that Keara didn't mind moving at a slow pace. Their tiny legs could carry them at speed if they wanted to chase something, but if they were going to go for a long walk, then a slow, steady pace suited them much better. If they moved deep enough into the park and no-one was around, Keara would usually let them off the lead, knowing that should it come to it that she could chase them down. It wasn't that she couldn't chase the puppies down if people were watching, she didn't have to use her powers to do it after all, she just didn't like showing off in that manner since her top speed was still superhuman.

"Leave it."

The troublemaker was trying to pick up a stick twice his own size. His tiny muzzle was straining to work its way over the thing with very little success and after a few more moments of trying Gizmo snorted and finally gave up; a fact he signalled as much through the use of his paws as he did verbally, as he lowered his head and batted at his snout with a paw. His little snort of frustration coupled with the adorably cute action, made Keara laugh, as whenever he did it she could almost hear and see Enver in his actions. It was one habit she didn’t have to look far for to know who to blame it. As they moved off and the eight little legs trotted along beside her, she began to let her mind wander. There was very little else to do in the quiet of the night, especially since she rarely took her iPod with her when she took the puppies for their walk. She enjoyed the park and the ambient noises and sometimes even allowed herself to fancy that she might be roaming the English countryside; even though the park bore absolutely no resemblance to that scene at all.

[Jersey]

When Jersey had first left the hospital, she never thought that she would have this life. She didn’t dream of finding a job walking five dogs, falling for her employer or finding a family. Although, sometimes the blonde often considered the fact she would have rather not been shot before her death, there wasn’t anything that she would change aside from introducing Peter and Kallista earlier to avoid watching him being crippled. She would want to avoid that entire conflict, even if it was slowly getting better in the end.

Every day, Jersey watched Peter for any sign of his OCD to return for a little while before getting up to go out. Whether it was work, or off to visit with her siblings and sire, or go for a walk, she liked that things had returned to the way they had been before the first fae attack. It made things easier and more peaceful. She was almost seven months old as a vampire, and she was once again happy now that the anxiety had passed. The decision to go out for a walk with the boys had come earlier after going for a run with the girls, but mainly was so that she wouldn’t end up falling flat on her face and having six furry bodies swarm her.

“I’m going to take the boys for a walk. We’ll be back in a bit.” With a quick kiss to Peter’s cheek, Jersey gathered the leads and Bear’s harness – the large dog still had the tendency to pull her and she was still trying to break the habit. It was just another one of the reasons she’d begun to take them in threes. After adding a few bottles of water for the dogs to drink and a few toys into a small backpack, Jersey shouldered it and left the cabin after a steady pace with a hum escaping past her lips. On a normal day, she’d walk from the cabin to the sewer entrance just outside of Elmsworth and back unless Bear was being more energetic, to which she had made her way to Honeymead.

Today was one of those days, as he pulled and tried to run, making Jersey stumble a bit before she found her ground beside Hunter and Jack, relieved that the two boys were well trained. They were like children, learning as they went, and it amused her. “Had I ever wanted children?” She wondered to herself while she paused in her steps to reach down and scratch behind the Australian Shepherd’s ears. One of the most frustrating things was simply because she didn’t know things about herself, but she supposed there were blessings and curses about everything that could happen to someone.

Making her way to the park with the dogs following at her side, Bear occasionally running up ahead to pull before being told to slow down, Jersey breathed easily while she listened to her surroundings; it was one of her favorite things about being a vampire, listening to the dog’s panting and their beating hearts as they walked. At first, it had bothered her. The need for blood had been repulsive, but Kallista had helped her get over it quickly – and the idea of harming an animal after being a vegetarian to begin with had her wanting to have that be controlled as fast as possible. When her blood wasn’t boost through ritual, she would drink from the cup that Peter would have delivered for her, glad that man had issues with it as well. Adapting had been easy with support.

When Bear barked, Jersey reached over and gently covered the dog’s snout with her hand, shushing him before her green eyes looked around to find the person that her pet had decided to greet only to take in the familiar form that belonged to Peter’s sire. A small smile played across her lips and she called out, “Hello Keara” in greeting. It was a rare thing, she had found, to find the woman in anything other than a raid or when Peter was harmed. “Without her words this time, you likely would have freaked out more than you already were.” She reminded herself.

[Keara Aithne]

More aware of her surroundings due to the fact that Enver wasn't around to distract her, Keara had noted Jersey's presence nearby before she was greeted by her. A soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips and she nodded her head by way of acknowledgement. As she reacted thusly, Gizmo and Leeloo reacted in their own ways too. Gizmo, thinking he was big and brave, began straining at his lead to get to the other dogs. His little tail wagged back and forth, whipping through the air as he began panting against his collar. Leeloo, not being quite as brave as her companion, opted for trying to hide herself from the oncoming horde by tucking herself away behind Keara's boots.

"Greetings Jersey. Nice it is for you so to see."

Keara pulled up a short distance from the pack Jersey escorted, trying to keep Gizmo out of trouble. He was desperate to get at the other animals and wanted to know their scent; his pathetic attempts to do so, only leading to him causing himself more discomfort, as he began to choke himself.

"Gizmo," Keara warned in an authoritative voice.

The small pup stopped pulling, looked up at her and then went to sniff Leeloo instead. Whether the act was one of chivalry or one of retreat, it didn't matter as it kept him quiet. While he was tending to Leeloo, Keara had the opportunity to look the other animals over.

"Walk you do far with your companions," Keara noted. "Live you do in the cabin. Yes?"

In some ways Keara may have envied her the longer distance she had to travel, but then if she wanted to walk the city, she didn't require her puppies to be with her. The walk she took with them was for them alone. Usually. Sometimes she used the walk as an excuse to get away from her husband for a short period of time, either for his sanity or her own. Gizmo too seemed to benefit from a short excursion, as he seemed less prone to chewing things once he returned home.

[Jersey]

“It’s nice to see you, too.” There was the pull from Bear as he headed to the others before she stopped him, Jersey resisting to be dragged like she once would have been without difficulty while Hunter and Jack both perked up at the approaching group. “Sit.” She warned to her Australian Shepherd and the relief was evident across her features as he listened to her before she praised him lightly, her fingertips reaching to scratch behind Hunter’s ears while the Great Dane leaned into her leg with his weight. Momentarily, she reached down to scratch Jack’s, her green eyes lifting to the two pups with a smile playing across her lips.

“And who are these two?” She asked, straightening back up while she felt Jack lay beside her foot as Bear continued to pant. Her hand went back to Hunter’s head, scratching behind his ears. As the pup went to sniff his companion, Jersey lifted her gaze to Keara and gave a light nod of her head. “I do, yes.” She thought about the walk from the cabin to where they were now, her lips parting lightly as a sheepish expression danced across her features, “I don’t really think about the distance, to be honest. Before Peter took me in, I used to stay in the hotel not too far from here and I work over in the 8th Dimension Mall.”

Jersey ran her tongue lightly over the back of her teeth, “It tires out Bear and Hunter by the time we get back, and if Jack,” She motioned at each of the dogs, “gets tired I would simply carry him.” She had walked out here regularly before her turning, only on occasion with Peter when he wouldn’t let her return to her room by herself. Walks were generally times for her to think, although she considered the fact she did that a lot regardless of her surroundings, and sort out her thoughts without certain sounds giving her headaches.

“How are you?”

[Keara Aithne]

"Well I am. Thank you. Well you seem. Hope I do that that true is. As for my companions..."

She pretty much cut Jersey off from answering, but not because she didn't want to know how the woman was, she just didn't want the question she'd been asked to go unanswered. After everything they'd been through with Peter of late, she hoped that the female would feel comfortable enough to bring up any issues she might have, if she wished to discuss them. Her break in her reply was only long enough for her to crouch down, so as not to expose herself in her short skirt, and scoop up a puppy in each hand.

"This one," she jostled the mottled Chihuahua pup to indicate which one she was speaking of as she stood back up, "Gizmo is. He a gift from Enver was. Mainly. And his... Hmm... Companion? Lady friend?" She wasn't sure how to define the relationship between the puppies as it had begun to change in the last few months, with Gizmo taking more of a 'romantic' interest in her. She partially blamed herself and Enver for that, as the poor creature couldn't spend so much time with them alone without picking up a few habits. "Matters not. Perhaps. She Leeloo is."

Keara was awfully proud of her babies and as she displayed the pretty, white female, she couldn't stop herself from smiling. Of course Gizmo was still the favourite, what with being the first of her pets and a gift from Enver to boot. The little scamp had a place in her heart that no other animal was likely ever to fill. Centuries she'd lived without being gifted with a pet to call her own, mainly due to her lifestyle, and so to her, the gift was one that had been long awaited, even if she hadn't known she actually desired such a thing before he'd been presented to her. Okay, so he hadn't been a planned gift. He was a stray Enver couldn't shake while he was out one night, and he hadn't been a very welcome gift at the time what with Keara's delicate state of being, but he'd won her over before she knew it.

The motley crew Jersey was escorting had all been pointed out to her by name and now that she held her two, tiny terrors in her hands, she had the time to properly look them over. She was sure she recognised some of them as being Peter’s but she’d never really paid all that much attention to animals in the past, not without good reason. The little one she recognised as a sort of scrapper, a jumper; he’d be great for chasing rats. Better than her two at least. Not that Keara wanted her two to hurt the rats they caught, she just thought they could use the challenge, and the exercise.

"They," she indicated towards the pack of dogs by raising her chin in their direction, "Peter's are?"

[Jersey]

She nodded her head as Keara continued to speak, indicating that well indeed now that she knew things were fine again with her boyfriend. Panic had kept her on edge when the man had awoken, his distance after almost being inseparable for months the cause of her previous discomfort. For the most part she was easier going, although her temper was seeming to be a little harder to control but in time she figured it would return back to normal. As Keara crouched down, the three she had with her gave a whine and Bear tried to move closer, laying on his stomach and crawling until Jersey gave a light whistle so that he would stop, chuckling gently.

Green eyes followed Keara as she stood back up before she looked to both puppies with the same smile across her lips. Animals were something she loved dearly, big or small, it didn't matter. Dogs were simply her favorite. "Gizmo and Leeloo, both are very cute." She liked their names; Gizmo reminded her of the movie Gremlins, which had been one of the first she'd seen and Leeloo wasn't one she had heard before, so it was uncommon to her. "He seems really attached to her." Jersey looked down at Jack, who was usually not away from Ellie for too long and watched him sit down. As he set his head on her foot, she felt another smile pull at her lips as she heard Keara speak once more.

Looking back up to the other, she gave a soft nod of her head in confirmation. "Jack and Hunter are his, yes. Bear was a gift, but I put his name on the he papers when we adopted him anyway." Peter's suggestion to get another dog had come sudden, but she figured his OCD had something to do with it. "The shelter was closing down and Peter ended up deciding to take over not too much longer after that." Jersey looked at the dogs with a loving expression dancing across her features. Before she'd been sired or had a regular job, Peter had trusted her to walk them and she'd grown fond of the five as much as she had their owner.

"The other three are back home with him. She brushed a few strands of blonde hair away from her face, debating on a few moments before exhaling quietly. She'd been told in the past that she didn't need to thank her, but it was from habit that she did. And so, "Thank you, by the way, after Kallista and Peter... had their altercation. I really appreciate that you kept me company. I like this family, and after everything that has happened... I can't imagine what I'd do without you all." Jersey inclined her head gently with a soft smile dancing across her lips, almost sheepish. Even with simply filling her in, saying that Peter would awaken, Keara had kept her calm.

[Keara Aithne]

She couldn't help but smile a little in her own quirky way as Jersey praised the looks of her puppies. They were more than cute, they were adorable but unlike when the conversation turned to Enver, Keara was able to reel in her need to praise them further. Peter's animals seemed more than a little curious about her little darlings, and as Jersey spoke, a small part of Keara's mind was debating the safety of the creatures should she choose to set them back on the ground. As the names were spoken once more, her focus shifted from one dog to the next as she tried to make a mental note of which was which and whom it was that they belonged to. Her memory at times was hit and miss depending on the day but more so when it came to her first life, so she didn't worry that she would forget this new information. Unless of course her mind deemed it unworthy of remembering.

When the topic of conversation changed and Jersey thanked Keara once again for being there after the recent family altercation, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and then looked to each of the puppies she held. As her head dipped to assess their state of agitation, Gizmo began to squirm, licking in the air in the hopes of getting close enough to "kiss" his mother.

"Thank me you need not Jersey. Family we all are. And families fight do. Change that we cannot. Much like the families into which our mortal selves are born, choose we cannot those around us. Though advantage have we do over mortal parents, for choose our childer we may. So perhaps in some ways strictly true that is not. But that not the point is. Chose you did not for related to me and many others to be. Perhaps chose you did your sire. This new life. But with that connections do come that out of your control were. What matters is how conflict resolved is. And that it resolved is. Thankful I am that Peter wished not for vengeance once woke he did. How fairs he now? With your sire and siblings I mean. Are things between them truly settled? No animosity between them online since then have I seen."

She'd rambled on and she knew it. Half of what she'd said was completely unnecessary and shouldn't have been verbalised but Keara had nothing to hide and saying too much at times was just her way. When she'd first gotten out of the realm she was just as chatty but her rambling was hardly ever on topic. Now at least her thoughts, and therefore her words, seemed to flow in a more logical order. When she was done speaking and to avoid any uncomfortable silence while Jersey worked out what it was that she'd said, (as she'd notice a lot of people had to take a moment or two in order to re-arrange her words and make sense of them) she stooped once more and gently placed the puppies back on the floor. Once all eight paws were on solid ground and the little bodies were standing under their own power, she quickly stroked each one behind the ear to reassure them that she wasn't going anywhere and stood back up.

Free to move and explore once more, Gizmo took a quick look around Leeloo before straining on his lead to try and reach the bigger animal of the three before him. As small as he was, he was a scrapper and was beyond curious about the big brown eyes before him. The dog was aptly named, though he was bigger than a bear proportionally, at least when set next to Gizmo. As Gizmo strained against his collar to work every possible millimetre out of the length of his lead, Leeloo once more moved to settle behind Keara's feet. She was a shy little thing and peeked at the unknown pack from her secure location as she tried to work out if they could be trusted.

[Jersey]

There was a sheepish expression playing across her lips at the mention of mortal families. "The only family I've ever consciously known is this one. I just feel that when you feel thankful to someone you should let them realize how much you appreciate having them in your life, I guess." She lifted a hand to scratch at her face, thinking over the fact she didn't know anything about Marilee Evans, the name itself a remembered piece of her past. There were people she was aware that she had back then - a brother who had vanished without a trace, parents who she suspected had died when she was a teenager. At the mention of choosing her sire and the life that had come with it, she paused and green eyes lifted to Keara.

Had Kallista chosen her? She knew the woman hadn't chose to let her die, surely. The gunshot to Jersey's stomach hadn't been her fault. But, she had been lured repeatedly to the woman from that one power... The thoughts were lost from the blonde's mind when she felt a tug at her arm and she turned her attention back to Hunter and Bear. The Great Dane that often crawled into her lap when she was sitting on the cabin floor had laid down across her feet. "I didn't get think he would, had he been in this mindset. The way he was... Maybe." She admitted with a frown and then she thought back to the conversation she'd had with Peter. "He told me that he and Kallista had spoken and that it had gone well, the others didn't get involved until he'd broken into their apartment... Well, Kelly did after Peter tried to hit her and missed."

She frowned, remembering that night too well and gave a shake of her head to clear the images as they begun to form. The two had argued and reconciled, and then things has gone to hell less than twelve hours. As Keara spoke, the blonde continued to try and re-word what was needed. It wasn't too difficult for her to keep up with how her great-grandsire spoke, she herself was a chatterbox and had ended up with her sibling covering her mouth as a reminder that humans breathe. "Nakia's taking it hard, hurting him like that; Danton's harder to read, but I know that he doesn't seem to want any more tension. He wished that it hadn't gotten to the way it had, I think." Jersey made a mental note to double check later. "They all are really nice people," She bit her bottom lip, "And I love them to pieces. If I see any tension develop between them, I'll come straight to you."

There was a small frown, on her lips as she spoke, her eyes closing briefly, "I can't see him get hurt like that again, nor do I think I can handle their fighting." When it boiled down to it, Jersey still didn't see why she hadn't asked for help sooner - at least, why she hadn't gone to Keara. She had pleaded with Kallista for help, rather than hurt him, and the same with Nakia. For months, she'd watch the friction grow and she done nothing but ask them both to ignore each other. Of course, that hadn't worked out.

As Gizmo approached, Bear crawled forward slowly and pressed his lower jaw against the ground before stilling, flattening out on the grass. Jersey chuckled, knowing all of Peter's and then her own dog were friendly towards others. With Hunter on her feet, she couldn't step closer. After a moment or two of consideration, Jersey carefully shifted the three leads to one hand and shrugged her bag off her shoulder to set it down by Hunter.

[Keara Aithne]

She'd never been one to judge others based on first impressions; though of course being able to read a person in that first meeting was very important survival skill. After a few decades of studying people and the way they acted it was certainly an easier task. Keara would never say she was an expert at reading people though, as people were always capable of surprising one another. Jersey she'd judged to be a sweet girl even before she met her, through her words on Crownet. That and through the fact that Peter was so protective of her. She'd assumed she was the sort that needed protecting, but then a man's words could not be trusted in that matter. They were instinctively protective creatures, the chivalrous ones even more so. Enver was protective of her but she didn't require his protection. She bested him with both melee and automatic weaponry, but then she had the heart of a hunter. It didn't matter that she no longer wished to hunt her own kind as she had for most of her vampiric life, the need to hone her skills and put them into practice was one of her strongest, most driving instinct. That was certainly true up until the moment she found another desire that proved stronger still; that for her husband. With him she'd been right to withhold judgement about him, as their first meeting left a lot to be desired. Had she been quick to judge him then, she'd of branded him a thief and while his skill set did extend to thievery, it wasn't a facet of his personality that defined him. Jersey however was a sweet girl, and the more she spent time with her, the more she considered the fact that the girl wasn't an obvious choice for this world. If anything she was too nice to belong in the darkness with the rest of them. Even Peter seemed to belong more than her and he was a sweet thing too. A smile played on her lips as she thought this, as he obvious had a little darkness in him, even if it had lead him down a path to self-destruction. He may have been a pawn in their game, Keara and Enver's game that was, but his turning was something she could never regret.

Keara nodded her head in the appropriate places as Jersey spoke, allowing the girl to say what was on her mind. Her eyes rarely straying however, from the little mottled critter on the floor. When the sound of his straining turned to choking, Keara took pity on him and took a step closer to the pack so that he could close the gap between him and bear. The large animal seemed to be as curious about Gizmo, as he was about him, though his behaviour was subdued. From what she could see, it was down in the grass, not to hunt, but to allow himself to be investigated. He seemed to have an understanding of how big his form was compared to Gizmo's tiny frame and had hunkered himself down so that the pup could get a better look at him. After sniffing the Australian Shepherd's face, Gizmo set about cleaning him up, much like he did to Leeloo. Gizmo was an odd little thing but she could see why he'd taken to Enver the way he had that night on the streets, she'd often thought that he'd recognised a kindred spirit. Much like his daddy, the bravado masked a soft heart, though Gizmo was much more willing to trust on first sight than Enver was. Leeloo, was more like him in that manner. Still unsure of the pack, the only time she'd moved was when Keara had taken a step closer and then she'd only moved to follow and maintain her place behind the mummy shield.

"Odd creature he is," she remarked as Gizmos licked at the corner of Bear's eye. "Safe he is? Yes?"

She didn't really need an answer but she'd asked anyway. The other two dogs had yet to really register on Gizmo's radar. He knew they were there of course but the biggest of the three was a more obvious target for his attention. A more worthy target in the small pup's mind.

"As for the others. The family I mean. Not the canines. Tension expected should be. Like one another for eternity we cannot. Times there are, when I Enver cannot stand. Admittedly, last long those feelings do not, but surface they do. Infuriates me at times he does. Though Peter different creature from his father is."

Keara looked up at Jersey, fully concentrating on the blonde as she spoke now. It wasn't that Gizmo didn't need watching, but she was more than capable of monitoring that situation without paying him quite so much attention.

"Sure I am that repeating myself I am. Though know I do not to whom I what have said. But fighting normal is. Families fight do. Friends too. What important is, is how we ourselves afterwards do conduct. That we our apologies make. That able we are for one another to forgive. Enver most forgiving with me is. Quite... violent my instincts are. Time was, when met we did, that touch me he could not without pain for his efforts to receive. Know I do not why he with me did persevere? Why allowed he did for himself every day hit to be. Special kind of patience with me he had."

It was difficult for Keara to have a conversation without mentioning Enver's name. She loved to talking about him to anyone that could stand to listen, but often had to remind herself that people didn't need to know everything. She wasn't about to start talking to her sex life, there were only 2 people on the planet she'd even consider having that conversation with and one of those was Deanna, much to Deanna's dismay. The image of Enver naked and in the throes of passion wasn't one she wanted. The introduction of him into this conversation was to show Jersey that a little hostility wasn't necessarily a bad thing and that arguments, physical altercations included, could be overcome. There was far more she could have said on the matter considering she and Enver could quite happily knock one another round and not always for the sheer fun of it, but that probably was crossing a line into a level of confidence that neither woman would be comfortable with.

[Jersey]

As Jersey stood there, she quietly considered what she knew about Keara. Peter hadn't told her much, really. When she'd been alive and after she knew about vampires, he had told her that she was the one that turned him. It hadn't taken her long to put together that it was likely Keara that had said that Jersey would likely be killed if she found things out. But, she had also gathered that it was likely for protection, after seeing how Peter had always reacted - pulling away and clamming up, or rambling about how it was dangerous. After she had been turned, and once the surprise had passed about ending up in Vedarian as well, Jersey added the word maternal into her thoughts about the elder.

Actually meeting the woman in person after finding Peter once he'd been attacked by the Fae, what amount of fear she had of Keara had slipped away. She knew if Peter trusted her, given how skiddish he was, then she was a good individual. With how willing with how the Vedarian matriarch had been to help Jersey after that attack, she'd relaxed more. Every time help had been asked, Keara hadn't declined and it was that, that made Jersey trust her.

"He's cute though." She smiled and chuckled once more at the large dog, "Bear's still a puppy, but he and all of the dogs are fond of other animals. Both Gizmo and Leeloo are safe." Jersey explained. She felt Jack join Hunter and watched as he stretched out, causing her lips to tilt into amusement. Bear crawled forward and then stilled once more. Shaking her head gently, she looked to the dogs when she had finished speaking. It was still something she wondered: did she have more family than just the brother that she knew about? Would they ever recognize her if they came to Harper Rock? They were only minor things, though, as she considered that she didn't really care. She had her family, here and that was all that mattered.

As Keara spoke once more, Jersey lifted her gaze to the woman's features and blinked. She would have flushed a bit as there was a moment of confusion before she understood what was being said. "Peter has his moments." She could remember a specific time before her turning where he had intentionally tried to irritate her. It had worked and then some. Jersey had stormed away from him, angry and hurt, but he'd caught up and remedied the situation. "And I'm sure I get on his nerves plenty at times." She chuckled, "Even if he's too much of a gentleman to admit it." Eternity. The word itself had sunk in, but Jersey still hadn't taken light to how long that would always be. As Keara mentioned instincts, the blonde bit down on her bottom lip as she considered her own. She wasn't particularly a violent person, but she had stabbed Peter and she still couldn't shake that guilt entirely.

Another time, she'd stabbed a Paladin after getting shot. Some instincts were getting harder to suppress. "I'm getting to the point I'm not sure what is normal for me or not. I don't like hurting others, but on occasion I don't let myself think before I react." At the mention of Keara not being fond of touch and Enver letting himself get hurt until Keara was used to it, Jersey lifted her hand to lightly stifle a giggle. It was a little bit amusing, but she found it sweet. "Pain is worth love, I think, when you truly love someone." She thought about Peter, about the way it appeared he would shy away from her touch before he got used to it. A touch to the arm, his shoulder.

Lifting her hand to push her hair away from her features once more, she gave a soft nod of her head to show she understood what was being said. "I... have considered trying to learn to control being violent. Or well, how to react. My sister, Nakia, wants me to learn self defense." She knew while the other woman often had the better plays, Jersey could still knock her down. They trained every now and then, mostly when one of them was frustrated. "I can use a knife decently... but after hurting Peter like that, I can't bring myself to pick it up so we do hand to hand." Her knife and pistol were currently tucked beneath Kallista's ritual altar.

Instincts were tricky. That entire period of fighting between her boyfriend and sire had given her a headache like no other. When he would start, she'd defend Kallista. When she would start, she would defend Peter. Neither saw the blonde defending them, so it appeared she had picked a side ultimately until Kallista had finally realized that Peter wasn't acting like himself. She'd told Jersey to go elsewhere, not wanting her involved any more. Looking back at it all, she didn't see why she hadn't gone to Keara. "Hopefully it'll never escalate to that again. Seeing the aftermath, nearly losing him after he awoke, " She trailed off and pressed her lips into a small line.

"Fighting is one thing, but that was ultimately a war that stressed those involved out." She knelt down lightly, resting her knee carefully against the ground and removed the leash away from Hunter's paw after noticing it had gotten wrapped around it before standing back up and then smiled gently. "I told Peter... after he came back from taking a few days to talk with you, Enver and Kallista, that you had said we sometimes hurt the ones we love. Emotionally, physically. Everything heals, but I think one thing I learned from all of this is that where there's distance, people consider the feelings of others less. And I really hope to never see that again."